Dreaming in the Classroom

The essential guide on how to teach about dreaming.Dreaming in the Classroom provides teachers from virtually all fields with a uniquely informative guidebook for introducing their students to the universal human phenomenon of dreaming. Although dreaming may not be held in high esteem in mainstream Western society, students at all education levels consistently enjoy learning about dreams and rank classes on dreaming among their favorite, most significant educational experiences. Covering a wide variety of academic disciplines such as psychology, anthropology, film studies, philosophy, and religious studies, the book explains in clear and practical language the most effective methods for teaching accurate, useful information about dreams to students in colleges and universities, graduate programs, psychotherapy institutes, seminaries, primary and secondary schools, and nonacademic settings. Included are detailed discussions of how to create an appropriate syllabus, integrate material from multiple disciplines, nurture skills in writing and critical reasoning, propose courses to skeptical administrators, and facilitate a responsible process for sharing dreams in a classroom setting. The book draws on interviews with dozens of accomplished teachers, along with the authors’ many years of pedagogical practice, to present proven strategies for using this perennially fascinating topic to promote successful student learning.

Cover

Title Page, Copyright

Contents

Preface

There are many excellent books on dream theory, research, and practice. This
volume is not an effort to add directly to that impressive body of literature.
Rather we approach the topic one level removed: in the foothills looking down
at the plain, discerning activities, patterns, trends, and opportunities in how
dream knowledge is taught broadly throughout the society. We look at classroom...

Acknowledgments

This book owes much to the many persons in the dream education community
who filled out surveys, granted us interviews, responded to our questions,
provided course materials, and generally impressed us with their creativity and
innovation in dream education. Our collective thanks go to Kate Adams, Sheila
Asato, Deirdre Barrett, Paula Berggren, Barbara Bishop, Fariba Bogzaran, Bob...

Introduction

This book is probably not the first book you have read about dreams. There are
many fine treatments of the subject, which we identify and discuss throughout,
and list in a bibliography. This is primarily for dream educators and others
who want to extend and deepen their knowledge by involving themselves in
dream education as teachers and/or as advanced learners. The relative newcomer...

Chapter 1. Practical Guidelines for Dream Education

There are a number of issues to address in teaching about dreams, whether
the instruction is in formal academic settings or in less-structured community
environments. In this chapter, we explore the "nuts and bolts" and surrounding
questions and concerns of dream education in the college classroom, and
beyond. Our comments in this chapter apply in a broad, cross-disciplinary...

Chapter 2. Dreaming as a Fundamental Academic Skill

Although some instructors of dream studies may not require students to keep
dream journals, or to participate in in-class dream discussion groups, we have
begun with some advice to those who do. Our experience has convinced us of
the advantages of these practices as pedagogical tools in the study of dreaming.
We also believe that dream studies can stimulate innovative teaching in all...

Chapter 3. Psychology

Dreams, and dreaming, are complex and multifaceted. Because of this, the
study and the teaching of dreams inevitably and properly call on a number of
academic disciplines. We three authors reflect this in our own scholarly areas
of psychology, political science, research methods, statistics and epistemology,
philosophy, religious studies, literature, creative writing, and film studies...

Chapter 4. Anthropology

We now shift the focus from psychology to anthropology, the discipline that
runs a very close second to psychology in the length and sophistication of its
research tradition on dreaming. The primary audience for this chapter is teachers
of undergraduate and graduate courses in anthropology who are looking
for new strategies to help their students better understand the interaction of...

Chapter 5. Philosophy and Religious Studies

Philosophical and religious issues often emerge of their own accord in classroom
discussions of dreaming. Dreaming has been a topic of philosophical debate
throughout the ages, and religious traditions all over the world have venerated
dreams as important means of human-divine communication. No matter where
a dream discussion starts, it frequently leads students to confront the great...

Chapter 6. General Humanities

Any instructor in the humanities who develops an interest in teaching a course
on dreams and dreaming has the same initial conceptual hurdle to leap: Aren't
dreams by their nature within the province of the psychology department? If we
have questions about the origin and functions of dreams, aren't they addressed
by empirical observation and by psychological theory? Aren't...

Chapter 7. Film Studies

Although the analogy between dreaming and cinema has been a staple of popular
culture and film theory almost since the first appearance of moving pictures, it
is only rarely that serious dialogue between dream studies and film studies has
been undertaken. Both dreaming and cinema consist of the detailed, elaborate,
audiovisual presentation of imagined scenes, in states that induce in the...

Chapter 8. Psychotherapy and Counseling

In this chapter we discuss uses of dreams in psychotherapy and counseling. We
ask fundamental questions of whether and to what extent clinicians (psychiatrists,
psychotherapists, counseling psychologists, clinical social workers, and others)
employ dreams, and the effectiveness of therapy that uses dreams. We state what
we believe to be the value of dreamwork in therapy, and discuss...

Chapter 9. Alternative and Community Education

Dream education pops up anywhere interested learners encounter willing
teachers. If the formal gardens of higher education have grown dream flowers
only sparingly, dream wildflowers have taken root and bloomed elsewhere
where the soil is more fertile. Excellent, innovative dream education is taking
place outside the hallowed halls of traditional universities and...

Chapter 10. Primary and Secondary Education

The developmental trajectory of dreaming across the life span is a vital topic for
all teachers, with implications for pedagogical strategies and classroom practices
at every age. Although we are only reaching the subject of dream education for
primary and secondary school students now, toward the end of the book, we
believe the information presented in this chapter provides a valuable...

Chapter 11. The Future of Dream Education

In considering what the future holds for dream education, we first restate our
fundamental perspective: Above all, dreams are multifaceted and complicated.
Their study and teaching transcend disciplinary boundaries and evoke the parable
of the blind men and the elephant. Which parts of the dream elephant
best describe and represent its essence? Can we perhaps hope...

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